LESSONS TO TAKE TO 2021

Look at the roadway, out of the darkest roads, we can all come into the light of day. Here's hoping we can all hold out hope for that to be sooner than later.

2021 has come and with it all the hopes, prayers, ambitions, and promises that come with every new year, but what makes 2021 diametrically different than the years before? Very, very, little if you do not put in some work to find the differences. Like any other aspect of this thing called life, the new year can be what you make of it, if you're willing to put in the work. So, what does that look like for us? I don't know about everyone else, but I can tell you what it looks like for yours truly.

The magic of the new year has to start inside of a person as they do a little retrospection looking back at the previous year, or years. What we all hated about the last year is complicated, yet quite simply, was the exact same thing. We all hated the pandemic. I won't even say that hate, one of my least favorite words, is too strong when it comes to what last year was for many. 2020 will go down in my book as the worst year of my life. I watched as the world hunkered in fear from an enemy that most of us can not see, could not fathom, and did not always know what to do to fight against. From the very first days of the pandemic, we were all given multiple examples of what to do to protect ourselves, protect our families and our communities. We became familiar with words and specialties like Virologist. We were treated to new faces, mixed in with some old ones, as they took to the air to spread hope and guide our country through something we had not experienced in modern times. Whether we liked it or not, we were all being drug down the rabbit hole into the greatest soap opera on earth.

Life still has not returned to what it was, amidst the constantly changing environment that is our world. Sure, I could go into a long rant and get caught up in the tangents of it all, but I'll refrain. Nevertheless, some of what we were forced to endure genuinely did piss me off. I'll never forget the measurements for social distancing. At least six feet away, they told us. All of the industry leaders took that number and ran with it, even though it was a mistake. We weren't wearing masks yet, because the good doctor, Anthony Fauci, and his cabal of leaders and experts, were afraid to risk running out of masks. When I heard that fact come out, I began researching the existence of neck gaiters, the thought of handkerchiefs, and the number of people that I saw advertising on social media that they were manufacturing them at home. As we've come to learn how important the masks are to protect those around us, as a precaution due to the possibility that we might infect someone else if we're asymptomatic, I have to stop and wonder the unanswerable question, how many would still be alive if they'd just told the truth from day one.

In the year 2021, we are, by either information or personal experience, much more equipped to continue to live our lives in this new era of pandemic response. It's a new way to start a new year but, after the months of Covid-19 affecting all of our lives, we have a better chance this year to survive the dreaded virus and perhaps put it past us all, if the mutations don't render the vaccine rollout a failure.

Unlike any other year before, that we suffered through and endured the American electoral process, whether you are a republican or a democrat, the biggest truth is that we've finally come through the most humiliating election season in our lives and possibly in the history of our country. God bless Donald J. Trump for giving up his life for four years. He stepped out of his world and into the unenviable, often disgusting, world of the American politician. Unfortunately, we were forced to endure four years of listening to him speak, reading his tweets (or at least hearing about them), and watching him attack and assail any and all that disagreed with his self-assured greatness. In hindsight, he did teach us one very valuable lesson that we can carry on into the next years of our lives. Paying close attention to the actual, tangible, events and decisions of our governing bodies feeds our ability to evaluate our employees. The President, is, like all other members of the elected government, an employee that every two or four years we get the chance to do our own employee evaluation and if we don't like how they did, utter in one massive voice, "YOU'RE FIRED!" Coincidentally, I think that was President Trumps' favored phrase on the apprentice.

So, I entered into 2021 with the hopes and prayers that the newly sworn-in President finds a way to be effective and do the job of the people, working for the people while he tackles the challenges ahead. It'll be a steep climb in front of him, tackling the pandemic, the economy, unemployment, and a spiraling America that desperately needs to return to its' core values. We all need your help, President Biden, so I hope somewhere, you're listening.

We watched America burn during 2020. If it wasn't the wildfires burning out of control through the Western United States, then it was the cities where riots raged out of control. It was perhaps the most distressing, depressing, assault on our senses. This marked the highest point in America's division since the civil rights movement, reminding us all that there is still anger, hatred, and mistrust on the streets of our country and I dare say, in the hearts and minds of our citizens. What started as anger and rage over the treatment of a black man in Minnesota sparked more national outrage than ever before. One, after another, we were witness to the spectacle of the day to day dangers that Law Enforcement Officers have to face and the backlash over their decisions, some right and some so very, very wrong. As I think about the things that I've seen this year, and in years prior, I don't remember growing up with the concerns of today. The term race, in America, has become something akin to the sixties.

In 2021, my peace of mind comes from the knowledge that we can all learn to communicate better and find that common ground we once shared. Growing up around people of different backgrounds and races, we all wanted the same things. To live our lives, have a chance at success, and be valued and judged on our actions more than our looks. Putting behind the fear that the prior year stoked in people, people of all races; is the best way to start off this new year and a goal that we should all continue to effort toward.

I said that 2020 was perhaps the worst year in my life, but how could I not have learned something or found some peace or joy in an entire year? The pandemic hurt us all, not the same as perhaps your neighbor or your friend, but in some way, it has hurt and changed everyone. While America was shut down I learned to do what I could to survive mentally. Governments can force businesses to close, can restrict traveling, and even the progress of men but they can't take away our resiliency. So, when there was little to do I returned to the outdoors. Something that was always there, available, and often ignored. Many, as it was evident by the cars and trucks parked there, found their way to local lakes, creeks, parks, and rivers. Hiking became a thing and fishing a hobby. Kayaking supplies like PPE were in short supply as were fishing and hiking supplies. We were outside.

We gathered around trails and boat docks, found backwoods areas to try and met new people along the way. We had time to talk to our closest friends and our new acquaintances. We were finding our way, people of all races, creeds, and colors. Men, women, and children alike, probably the healthiest they'd been in years, enjoying the simplicity of nature and time disconnected from our internets, our televisions, and our endless attraction to being entertained. For me, starting this new year over, I'm carrying this into 2021 and beyond because it was the best part of 2020.

When I look at the image for this article, the double rainbows, I think about that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It's no doubt metaphorical as we all know by adulthood what a rainbow is and how we come to see them. Even amidst the crises we face, the struggles in front of us, and the losses we will suffer through, there's no reason not to give yourself a chance to enjoy that rainbow. Look to the stars and pray to whatever god you believe in, that the country can find its' way to a better place, that we can all be better than the fear-driven men and women we were in 2020. Make this year a year that, if nothing else, you can look back on it in 2022 and realize no matter how you're 2021 went, you did it with some style, dignity, grace. Eventually, the smaller stores will all open again. I urge anyone reading this, go explore your towns, see what you've been missing. Gyms will open up again, get in there and get to work on the things about you that might need some work.

When this is all over, perhaps there should be one last virtual event. On the last day of the pandemic, as we are finally able to demask and live how we want when we want, we should all raise a glass to us. The Human Race, much like I will, will have a better year this year and come out of this disaster stronger than before.